Wolves

Wolves are not killed because they are gray, but because they eat sheep. ~ Russian proverb

Wolves (Canis lupus) are quadrupedal carnivorous mammals related to coyotes and jackals. Wolves feature in folklore and mythology of cultures ancient to modern across the northern hemisphere; from the Norse legend of the giant Fenrir to more sympathetic depictions in Central Asia and the suckling of Romulus and Remus in the foundation of Rome. More familiar still are the fairy tales where the wolf appears as a villain such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. Wolf legends have also given rise to the popular horror figure of the werewolf.

All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. …Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves, taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.

The wolf is an intelligent and cultural animal. Its behaviour is not just imprinted in its genes, but is also taught from mothers to pups according to circumstance. It knows that a man with a pitchfork is dangerous, and that a man with a gun is even more so. The wolf was different once, and was more active during the day. Its [modern] nocturnal activities are an adaptation against danger. If people completely left wolves alone, in just one lupine generation (that is, five years), the wolf could once again try and attack people, at least in areas where it can allow itself to do so. We have signs of this in Canada, where three cases have been brought to our attention. In Europe, there have been no similar incidents, for now.

The mischief [the wolf] causes by his hunting might be borne, though it is considerable, if he were not impelled by his wild hunting zeal and indomitable thirst for blood to slay more than he needs for his sustenance. This renders him a curse to the flock-owner and sportsman, and makes him everybody's cordially hated enemy.

There’s no doubt that a pack of wolves gallivanting around the Highlands would keep deer numbers down, and this would save the trees and crops. But I can’t help wondering what else Mr Wolf might eat. Obviously Johnny Fox would be a tasty target, which is fine now that man isn’t allowed to hunt him any more. But what about the sheep? In the Alpine region of France a pack of just 30 wolves does its level best to keep lamb off the menu in most local restaurants, and we see a similar problem in Sweden, where wolves, tired of eating deer, are helping themselves to pretty well anything that moves.This brings me neatly to the wolf’s favourite amuse-bouche — us. [It's been said that] humans have nothing to worry about because in the last hundred years there hasn’t been a single recorded case of a person, or even a part of a person, anywhere in Europe, being eaten by a wolf. [It's also been argued] that in Alaska and Canada humans and wolves live happily together. True, but that’s because in Alaska and Canada most people pack some kind of heat in the parka. Here, however, we’re not allowed to walk around with a blue-steel .44, so I suspect the reintroduction of wolves would mean the odd rambler would go west.

Jeremy Clarkson, "Who's afraid of the nice wolf?", The Sunday Times (2 January 2005).

They are an effective, widespread, and basic predator. They are not very good adapting to change. Wolves are often referred to as an indicator species, which means that any little deterioration of their habitat causes immediate drop in their numbers in that habitat. They don’t seem to be able to adjust to expanding civilization the way coyotes do. The coyote’s range is increasing in the face of human expansion, while the wolf’s is decreasing.

Raymond and Lorna Coppinger, Dogs (2001).

There are, of course, several things in Ontario that are more dangerous than wolves. For instance, the step-ladder.

J.W. Curran, The Canadian Wildlife Almanac (1981).

Wolves don't suffer things like guilt or remorse. They don't have any problems with the amount of discipline that they give to a fellow pack member, because in their world, the family is what matters, not the individual. So when you go in with a pack of wolves, you have to leave your emotions at the gate. When you come back out, it's very difficult to pick those emotions back up again.

There are some dogs which, when you meet them, remind you that, despite thousands of years of manmade evolution, every dog is still only two meals away from being a wolf. These dogs advance deliberately, purposefully, the wilderness made flesh, their teeth yellow, their breath astink, while in the distance their owners witter, "He's an old soppy really, just poke him if he's a nuisance," and in the green of their eyes the red campfires of the Pleistocene gleam and flicker…

In reviewing earlier the historical material pertaining to wolf attacks on humans I discovered some very striking ironies, the most striking being that while North American wolf biologists vehemently opposed the wolf image portrayed in Grimm's fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, and failed to research and develop an understanding of when wolves became dangerous to people and when not, their colleagues studying coyotes did just that! Biologists studying urban coyotes developed a sound understanding predicting when coyotes living in cities would attack children. The biologists studying coyotes were not in a state of political denial. And they put nobody at risk. Quite the contrary! As I have shown, wolves signal impending attacks on people a long time before it happens. They act very much like their smaller cousin, the coyote. Yet the vehemence with which the myth of the "benign wolf" is defended by environmental groups, but also individuals claiming to be scientists studying wolves, transcends reason.

Valerius Geist, Statement by Valerius Geist pertaining to the death of Kenton Carnegie (29 September 2007).

I could not understand how any writers could call wolves the sanitarians of nature - just the opposite is true in my opinion. Some write that wolves only kill the animals they need to eat; there is endless documentation showing that wolves are wanton and surplus killers. Some write that wolves prey only or primarily on the weak, sick, diseased, or crippled animals; wolves often kill healthy, fit, well fed animals which are in their prime. Some write that a healthy wolf will not attack a human; wolves are wolves, and in Russia and Asia, throughout history, wolves, including healthy wolves, have been attacking and killing people... In my opinion, many Western writers and specialists on wolves have become enamoured with these animals. It is true that wolves are highly interesting and fascinating. However, most of these pro-wolf writers are basing their conclusions primarily on emotions, and not facts.

Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

Wolves are harmful to humans in many respects: they attack livestock and dogs, wild ungulates and other useful animals, spread diseases and attack people directly. The little use which may be derived from captured wolves (skin, tasty meat which is fully suitable for food) as well as sporting pleasure of the hunting of wolves, are not to be compared with the damage to human health and economic interests caused by these undoubtedly injurous predators.

The connection between Mongols and the wolf is... interwoven with religion and folklore. In the Shamanic culture, the wolf is connected with mountain spirits. Children's fairy tales are often filled with references to the clever and mysterious wolf. With all these connections, I assumed it would make sense if Mongols had a bit of wolf blood in them. And perhaps they do. A legend is told about a blue wolf that mated with a red deer. It was their offspring that spawned the tribe of Chingis Khan. Since Chingis is considered the father of the nation, it's no wonder why the wolf is held in such awe.

The misinformation promulgated by wolf advocacy groups ranges from minor technical errors to major deception and fraud. Technical biological misinformation, though bothersome to professionals working with wolves, is not as serious as deception about such issues as the status and trends in wolf populations. This latter type of misinformation tends to motivate well-meaning wolf advocates to press their causes through letter-writing campaigns, public meetings, lobbying, and lawsuits. For example, animal welfare and wolf advocacy groups have been advertising for funds in major national newspapers for years, claiming that wolves were threatened in Denali National Park and other parts of Alaska, despite documentation to the contrary. These misrepresentations have even made it into conference proceedings. In the non-peer-reviewed proceedings of a nonprofit citizen organization, "Defenders of Wildlife's Restoring the Wolf Conference," undocumented claims were made the the wolf has been eliminated from "95% of its former range" and "95% of its historic range in Noth America". The actual figures are closer to 30% of its global range and 40% of its North American range.

David L. Mech, Wolf Restoration to the Adirondacks: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Public Participation in the Decision, (2001).

Physiologically, we know a great deal about the wolf, although we still have much to learn. But why should we continue to study the wolf? Some people curse the animal; others deify it. As scientists study it, we may be able to blunt these extremes and place the wolf in proper perspective. Viewed from the inside, the wolf is a large, intelligent canid predator with a variety of interesting biochemical, neural, and hormonal adaptations. It is neither good nor evil.

David L. Mech, Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, (2005).

Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Oxford King James Bible, Genesis 49:27 (1769).

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Oxford King James Bible, Matthew 7:15 (1769).

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

Oxford King James Bible, Isaiah 11:6 (1769).

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.

Oxford King James Bible, Jeremiah 5:6 (1769).

But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

Oxford King James Bible, John 10:12 (1769).

What fellowship hath the wolf with the lamb? so the sinner with the godly.

Oxford King James Bible, Ecclesiasticus 13:17 (1769).

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

It is popularly believed that there is no written record of a healthy wolf ever having killed a person in North America. Those making the claim ignore Eskimos and Indians who have been killed and are careful to rule out rabid wolves.... Ernest Thompson Seton believed that wolves attacked and killed people before the coming of guns and poisons, especially during the Winter months when food was scarce, and Native American oral history supports this.

Inescapably, the realization was being borne in upon my preconditioned mind that the centuries-old and universally accepted human concept of wolf character was a palpable lie. On three separate occasions in less than a week I had been completely at the mercy of these 'savage killers'; but far from attempting to tear me limb from limb, they had displayed a restraint verging on contempt, even when I invaded their home and appeared to be posing a direct threat to the young pups.

We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be — the mythological epitome of a savage, ruthless killer — which is, in reality, no more than the reflected image of ourself.

Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.

now witchcraft celebratesPale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder,Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his designMoves like a ghost.

The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The founders of every State which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source. It was because the children of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that they were conquered and displaced by the children of the Northern forests who were.